Strange Things Have Happened Here
by patientalien
Summary: The Open Circle Armada was a mainstay during the War, under the command of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The public doesn't know the whole truth, though, and likely never will.


Based on conversations on tumblr. Title from "The Hanging Tree" from the Mockingjay soundtrack.

1.

The Open Circle Armada crest is not the result of hours of design meetings, nor does Republic Command have anything to do with its creation. In fact, the Armada hadn't been intended to have a symbol at all; the Armada itself exists as a matter of necessity. Separately, the men in charge of the Armada are formidable warriors. Together they are unstoppable, and thus the combined fleets - Skywalker's Resolute and Kenobi's Negotiator the undeniable flagships - are suggested, and the suggestion is put into effect with enthusiasm; the Jedi have a rule about attachments, but with Kenobi and Skywalker, their partnership makes them a weapon.

The crest was never supposed to exist, and the official story goes that it was awarded by Republic High Command for valor in battle. That, of course, is because the true story - as is quite common with stories about Kenobi and Skywalker - is so mundane it borders on embarrassing.

"It stands to reason," Obi-Wan Kenobi had said the night of the crest's creation, leaning close to his companion to be heard over the din of the other occupants of their current locale, "that we should be able to easily identify our own ships within the fleet."

"Because just opening a comm channel is just too kriffing hard, yeah?" Anakin Skywalker had responded with a raised eyebrow, skeptical but still amenable to his former Master's brainstorm. He points at the sketch before them, a broken circle drawn on the only writing surface available. "So did you MEAN for it to look like that?" he adds incredulously. "Because I'm pretty sure I don't want to be associated with that."

THAT being Xanatos du Crion and his son's holding company, the symbol of which closely resembled - until both men's untimely (or quite timely, depending on one's point of view) demises - the logo of the Offworld holding company belonging to the du Crion family and used for all manner of wrongdoing.

"Well, I..." Obi-Wan had sputtered slightly, but allowed Anakin to yank the writing surface away, erasing another segment of circle and evening out the lines considerable. Another thing that is often left out of public reports of Kenobi and Skywalker is the artistic skills of the galaxy's supposedly most hardened and ruthless warrior.

"There." Turning it, the symbol had taken on a more linear form, full circle in the middle, flanked by two half-circles surrounding the perimeter but not quite touching. "Half and half. We're still functional apart, but whole together, get it?"

It's a ridiculously sentimental expression and Kenobi had sighed. "I get it." He'd given his friend a smile, then, and a pat on the shoulder, and a motion to the serving droid for another round.

When the symbol began appearing on all the ships of the Open Circle Armada, and upon the armor of General Kenobi, the official story was sanitized, propagandized. Kenobi and Skywalker were the hammer blows of the Republic against the Separatists, had been rewarded with the symbol. The public, of course, did not need to know that the crew to paint it on the first of the ships had nothing to go on but a stained bar napkin.

Some stories are best left untold.

2.

When he decides to get the tattoo, Obi-Wan Kenobi isn't drunk, per se. He's Stewjonian, for one thing, and has an interesting physiological abnormality that allows him to rid his body of toxins far faster than most humans, and is a Jedi to boot. All things considered, he's faring far better than his younger companion. "Are you serious?" said companion scoffs as they enter the tattoo parlor, rolling his eyes so hard it seems as though - if Obi-Wan hadn't known the man for the past eleven years and hadn't seen much harder eye-rolling during that time - they will come right out of his head.

"Of course I am serious, Anakin," he replies, quite pleased with this idea indeed. Jedi have no possessions, not even their own bodies because, as Master Yoda likes to frequently point out, their true selves are not made of such crude matter. So why shouldn't he be able to adorn said crude matter with something to symbolize his dedication to the Republic, to the Jedi, and to the Force itself (the fact his friend is often referred to as the child of the Force certainly doesn't mean Obi-Wan is getting this mark to show dedication towards HIM - attachment and all). He'd tried to explain all of this to Anakin, but it had gone slightly awry and now they are here.

The procedure is fairly painless for someone whose life is spent being shot at - and occasionally hit, and is over before Anakin has the chance to fall asleep in the chair beside him - and before long, they are both looking down at the artist's handiwork. "Don't you want one?" Obi-Wan asks.

Anakin holds up his hands. "Nah," he replies, which is a bit of a surprise. Anakin has always been considered the more daring of the two of them, the more unorthodox. That this hadn't been Anakin's idea to begin with is something of a surprise. Obi-Wan's expression must broadcast his confusion - and dismay - because Anakin puts a hand on his shoulder. "But hey, it's a good look on you." As if to deflect any further questioning, or conversation (because that's what Anakin does, Obi-Wan had learned), Anakin gestures to the displays of body jewelry. "Since you're feeling adventurous, though, how about a nipple piercing or two?"

They're both still laughing when they finally exit the shop.

3.

The War goes on, and the Open Circle Fleet grows larger. Other Jedi Generals have ships within the fleet, are granted status among the elite. But it is still the domain of Kenobi and Skywalker, and that is accepted as fact and truth because it is also accepted that no one can match them: whether Kenobi's clever ground tactics - his true trickster nature never more obvious, or Skywalker's utter domination of any and all air forces (Skywalker less a name than a description at times), they beat back Separatists on world after world.

The stories that come out of those battles are not always fact and truth, but they are the face of the War and it is decided early on that fact and truth are malleable in order to maintain morale. Especially as the War goes on, and casualties increase, and Commander Tano disappears, and suddenly there are no more holos of Skywalker and Kenobi smiling together, brothers in arms, as there had once been. Skilled holographers manipulate the images instead: tilt the heads, maneuver the bodies to disguise the space that has sprouted between them.

The War goes on, those holos proclaim, and Kenobi and Skywalker go on as well.

4.

The distance hidden carefully from the public ebbs and flows. Some days are like stepping on glass shards, both men too tightly wound to be near one another - he who knows the other so well - without snapping, without saying things that can't be taken back. Other days are as though nothing has changed, as though all that has transpired and all that has been wedged between them is mere fiction, dust and ashes.

It is one of the in-between days now; hard to tell the way the tide will flow on Anakin's mercurial moods. Still, it's peaceful and they are sharing space for the time being. Anakin is pulling off his tunics, for reasons Obi-Wan will later try desperately to remember but will be unable to, when a glint of yellow and red ink catches his eye. "Wait," Obi-Wan says, standing, tracing the emblem on Anakin's right shoulderblade with one tentative finger. "When did you get this done?"

The symbol bobs with Anakin's shrug. "A couple weeks ago," he comments casually.

Obi-Wan's breath catches for just a moment because if nothing else this means... attachment. He stamps it down, because he doesn't want to admit even to himself how much it means for Anakin to prove his attachment in this way, to show he isn't drifting quite as far as Obi-Wan has feared. "Well," he says. "Did you avail yourself of the nipple rings as well, or are we saving that for a later time?"

Anakin smiles for the first time in ages, and Obi-Wan is glad once more for having the Open Circle Fleet as the glue so desperately holding their bond together. Not that he would ever admit it aloud. Not that he thinks he will ever have to.

5.

The sparks catch and suddenly Anakin - Vader - is alight, fire licking away his clothes, melting his skin, blackening his bones. A wretched howl tears from a throat damaged by sulfur fumes and smoke, and Obi-Wan turns away. Not because he can't stand to watch his friend burn, but because he can't stand to know that the monster burning is merely wearing the skin of his friend.

That skin is being bubbled away by fire and Obi-Wan feels a sudden rush of... something. It's not relief, exactly, but it almost is. Because among the flesh, ulcerating, blackening, splitting in the heat, is the symbol. Two halves, never to fully join as one, to never become whole. Vader doesn't deserve to have the mark on him, even in death. The Open Circle was for Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Anakin was dead before he had even arrived on Mustafar.

Obtaining the mark had been during one of his final months as Anakin, and it is knowing that he is no longer tied to Vader through flesh or deed that allows Obi-Wan the strength to bend down, pick up the discarded lightsaber of the man who had been closer than brother, and walk away.


End file.
